An electrochemical glucose biosensor exploiting a polyaniline grafted multiwalled carbon nanotube/perfluorosulfonate ionomer-silica nanocomposite.

A glucose biosensor was fabricated with loading of glucose oxidase (GOx) into a new organic-inorganic hybrid nanocomposite. The preparation involves formation of silica network into a Nafion (perfluorosulfonate ionomer) and subsequent loading of polyaniline grafted multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNT-g-PANI) onto Nafion-silica nanocomposite. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) of Nafion-silica/MWNT-g-PANI composite reveals the presence of spherical silica particles (sizes in the range 250 nm-1 microm) and tubular MWNT-g-PANI particles. Chronoamperometry and cyclic voltammetry were used to evaluate the performance of biosensor towards glucose. The Nafion-silica/MWCNT-g-PANI/GOx biosensor exhibited a linear response to glucose in the concentration range of 1-10 mm with a correlation coefficient of 0.9972, good sensitivity (5.01 microA/mm), a low response time (approximately 6s), repeatability (R.S.D value of 2.2%) and along-term stability. The presence of silica network within Nafion and MWNT-g-PANI synergistically contributes to the performance of the biosensor towards the electrochemical detection of glucose.

Nicotine leads to improvements in behavioral impairment and an increase in the nicotine acetylcholine receptor in transgenic mice.

Nicotine is the principal psychoactive ingredient in cigarette smoke, and has been associated with health problems in humans. However, the pure form of nicotine may prove to be a valuable pharmaceutical agent for the treatment of AD. However, the beneficial effects of nicotine remain a matter of much controversy. In order to clarify this issue, 12-month-old transgenic mice, expressing neuron-specific enolase (NSE)-controlled APPsw, were treated with low, middle, and high doses of nicotine for 6 months. Herein, we have concluded that the nicotine-treated groups evidenced improvements in behavior and increases in the nicotine acetylcholine receptor, nAchRalpha7. These findings provide experimental evidence that nicotine effects an improvement in impaired memory, and that this improvement is associated with an increase in nAchRalpha7. Thus, nicotine may prove a good preventative or therapeutic modality for AD patients.

Analysis of differentially expressed genes in early- and late-stage APPsw-transgenic and normal mice using cDNA microarray.

The complexity of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has made it difficult to examine its underlying mechanism. A gene microarray offers a solution to the complexity through a parallel analysis of most of the genes expressed in the brains from AD-transgenic mice. In our previous study, a total of 52 differentially expressed genes were identified in 18-month-old APPsw-transgenic mice compared to age-matched normal mice. We extended our work to better understand the relevant gene profiles from both early- and late-stage transgenic and normal mice. To accomplish this, cDNA microarray was used with the large-scale screening of the brain mRNA from transgenic and normal mice of 1 and 18 months of age. We identified a total of 48 genes, 6 up-regulated and 42 down-regulated, differentially expressed with a significant degree of induction and reduction in the brains from moderate 18-month-old transgenic mice compared to 1-month-old transgenic mice. In parallel, a total of 40 differentially expressed genes, 6 up-regulated and 34 down-regulated, were also found in the brains from moderate 18-month-old normal mice compared to 1-month-old normal mice. Thus, differentially expressed genes upon APPsw overexpression and the aging process are useful targets through which investigators can choose genes of particular interest. In the future, it will be necessary to study the function of differentially expressed genes, which are targets for developing drugs, using pharmacoproteomics.